A brush with serviceArt students' project to help local cancer patients

May 30, 2008|KIM KILBRIDE Tribune Staff Writer

Four Penn High School art students took advantage of an opportunity recently to turn a final-exam project into a community service project. Leeann Kuehn, Elizabeth Nash, Jennifer Startup and Samantha Weaver, all juniors, painted a glider bench that'll be auctioned off at the Jazz on the Terrace event in July at the Beiger Mansion Inn in Mishawaka. The proceeds will benefit RiverBend Cancer Services. Michele Klota is the girls' art teacher at Penn. She often requires or sometimes offers her students the opportunity to take part in community service projects. It not only teaches the teens a little about giving back to the community, Klota said, but it's also a way to have their work and talent showcased. The girls painting the bench decided upon a Beatles theme. They researched the group's music and looked at album covers to come up with a mock-up design. On Tuesday, they were finishing up some of the details. Nash said the concept was not a difficult one to come up with, though executing it proved to be a bit more of a challenge than she and her friends expected. "It's (The Beatles) something we all like," she said. "We thought other people would, too. They're kind of universal." Klota said she thinks the girls did a great job on the bench. Kate Voelker, executive director of RiverBend Cancer Services, said later Tuesday, via phone, that she couldn't wait to see the students' piece. This is the first time, she said, that high school students have been involved in the project. In past years, the benches, along with the painted market umbrellas done by local artists, have brought in $300 to $1,300 each at the auction, she said. The money, Voelker explained, is all used to pay for medication and support for local cancer patients. Jazz on the Terrace, meanwhile, is set for July 24. "There will be three great (jazz) bands performing," Voelker said. Tickets are $50 each. In addition to the bench being painted by the Penn students, there will be three other painted benches, along with six large painted market umbrellas, available for bidding.Staff writer Kim Kilbride: kkilbride@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6554